Apparatus for cleansing or blasting castings or other articles



' c. F. FREDE i-:r AL.'

APPARATUS F OR GLEANSING OR BLASTINGl CASTINGS 0R OTHER-ARTICLES Filed sept. 1v, 192s 4 sheets-Sheei 1 Oct. 3, i933. c. F. FREDE ET Al.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING OR BLASTING 4CASTINGS OR OTHER ARTICLES Filed Sept. -l7. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mi 3 1933- l. c. F. FREDE Er AL 559239521 APPARATUS FOR GLEANSINGY- OR- BLASTING CASTINGS 0R O THER ARTICLES Filed sept. 17, 192e 4 sheets-sheet 3 tented et, 3, i933 APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING R BELASTING CASTINGS .0R UTHER ARTICLES Charles F. Frede and Karl S. Howard, St.,Louis,

Mo., assignors, by mesne assignments, to General Steel Castings Corporation, Granite City, i Ill., a' corporation of Delaware Application September 17,' 1928l I Serial No. 306,347

17 Claims.

Our invention relates to the art of directing a stream of water, air, sand or other operating'medium against an article of manufacture and has been developed in connection with foundry practice in which application the invention consists in a novel method and apparatus for cleaning core and mold sand and core rods, etc., from large castings after they have been removed from the mold. It is to be understood that the field of use of our invention is not limited tothe cleaning of core and mold sand and core rods from castings, but may include any work where it is desirable to direct a stream of water or other liquid in various directions against the top, sides,

l and recesses of an article, or it may be used for blowing air or sand from a nozzle for drying or sand blasting certain articles.

The production of castings of the type referred to, such, for instance, vas lrailway truck frames,

20 tender frames, body platforms and underframes, locomotive beds, etc., involves the use of a large Anumber of cores of exceptionally large size and including numerous core rods. The removal of the core sand, rods, etc., from the completed casting has hitherto presented a very vexatious problem to the foundry and has necessitated the employment of many laborers thoughout a substantial period of time on each casting. It has also involved the use vof a large number of pneumatic chisels or other tools for breaking up the cors in the completed casting.

The primary object of this form of our invention is to provide a method and equipment for doing the cleaning work which will be more economical and thorough than the manual operations referred to. We are aware that it has been proposed, and, we believe, practiced to some extent, to direct a stream of water from a nozzle against a casting which was rotated on a table, the operator for the nozzle being located in a room separated from and adjacent to another room in which the casting carrying table was located. While this arrangement is satisfactory for some work, it is entirely unsuitable for work of a more complicated nature which we have encountered in the production of castings such as are referred to above.

Further objects of our invention are detailed in the following specification and may be referred to briefly as the provisions for directing a forcible stream of water from a nozzle in any direction from a given point and providing for the location of the discharge end of the nozzle at any point relative -to the object to be cleaned.

In the .embodiment of the apparatus of .our

yfao

present invention we utilize a novel hydraulic gun which is described and illustrated in our copending application Serial No. 271,094, filed April 18, 1928, to which application We refer for a detailed description and illustration of the gun, which with other detailed structure of our apparatus is illustrated inthe accompanyingdrawings wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through two cleaning compartments and adjacent control rooms, the figure illustrating a casting carrier, a casting mounted thereon being shown in broken lines.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through one of the chambers, the casting carrier, hydraulic gun and other equipment being shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken through the chambers shown in Figure 2 with parts of the equipment being shown .in top view.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic illustration or wiring diagram of the control for the various portions of the apparatus.

Figure 5 is a section through the gun structure forming a part of the equipment.

The fixed structure includes a compartment l having side walls 2 and an end wall 3. The bottom of the compartment includes a trough-like drain 4 which is inclined longitudinally and carries off Water, sand, etc., to a recovery plant which is not illustrated or described herein. Beams 5 extend across the lower portion of compartment 1 and mount rails 6 which form a track for the car '7 which forms a platform on which a'casting 90 C may be mounted. Track 6 extends out of oneend of compartment 1 into an adjacent room Where the car 7 may be loaded or unloaded. (See the right hand end of Figure 2).

The end wall 3 of compartment 1 is provided with openings 8. A suitable reversible motor 9 with a driving drum 10 is .mounted outside of room 1 and a cable 11 has its ends attached to car 7 and passes over drum 10 and a sheave 12 located at the opposite end of track 6, whereby mo car 7 may be reciprocated on track 6;

Beams 13 extend across the upper portion of compartment 1 and mount transversely extending rails 14 which form a track for carriage 15, and a reversible motor 16 on, carriage 15 is geared to one pair of wheels 17 of the carriage whereby the latter may be moved along track 14 in either direction. The carriage -15 mounts the hydraulic Agun 18 which is detailed in our copending ap.

plication Serial No. 271,094, and includes a barrel be elevated and lowered by a motor l9b; the gun including a nozzle 20 which may be rotated 'about a horizontal'axis by means of an inner shaft )driven by 'the motor 20a, all detailed in our copending application referred to. The gun structure is detailed in Figure and includes a frame 31 provided with bearings 34 in which the barrel 19 is slidably mounted. 'Ihe barrel is providedwith a rack 36 on one'side which is in mesh with a pinion 37 mounted on a shaft 39 journalled in frame 31 and driven by a suitable reversible motor 19h (Figure 5) to raise or lower the barrel in the frame. y

The upper end of barrel 19 carries a sleeve 40 which forms a bearing for an inner barrel or tube 4I which'extends beyond both ends of barrel 19 and at its upper end carries a bushing 42 provided with a bearing 43 for journaling the upper end of an axially disposed shaft 44. Bushing 42 is keyed to a barrel head 45 which carries a wheel 46 driven by a worm (not shown) mounted on a shaft connected to reversible motor 19a.

The upper end of head 45 carries a frame 45a which mounts the reversible motor 20a whereby shaft 44 may be rotated in either direction.

Tube 41, bushing 42, head 45 and the parts carried thereby are rotatably mountedon sleeve 40 by an anti-friction device 47 through bracket 48 on the upper endA of sleeve 40.

The lower end of tube 41 carries a flange 54 which is provided with a bearing for the lower end of shaft 44 and carries a nozzle casing 49 forming an extension of the tube. The L-shaped nozzle 20 is journalled in one side of casing 49, by means of anti-friction bearings 50, and includes an integral spider 51 and a center spindle 52 which is joumalledin the opposite side of casing 49 by means of an anti-friction bearing 53. The inner end of nozzle 20 is geared to shaft 44 by means of miter gears 55. The outer end of the nozzle is provided with a removable discharge tip 56.

The lower end of barrel 19 carries a bumper 57 adapted to abut against the lower face 58 of frame 31 to arrest the upward movement of the barrel and the downward movement of the barrel and tube is similarly arrested by engagement of the lower end of sleeve 40 with the upper end of frame 31.

Water is admitted to the gun through an inlet in sleeve 40 and passes through the perforations 58 in tube 41 and out of the nozzle at the lower end of the gun. Annular gaskets 59 of cup- 40 and tube 41 to prevent leakage through the joints between these elements. Leakage through thereby, including the nozzle casing 49 and the nozzle, may be rotated about the axis of the gun by the motor 19a. Shaft 44 may be rotated on the same axis by the motor 20a to rotate the nozzle about the horizontal axis of its inlet leg.

Hence, it' will be seen that the nozzle may be raised and lowered bodily, may be rotated in to piping 21 and gun 18 by means of swivel joints whereby the piping will permit the gun to be moved back and forth on track 14.

At the outside of each wall 2, we provide a control room 23 in which the operator stands and, by means of drum type reversing' controllers, connected to the motors by suitable wiring, positions the car 7 where desired beneath track 14, positions discharge nozzle 20 where desired relative to casting C, and directs discharge nozzle 20 in any desired direction. A few typical positions of the nozzle are indicated at N in Figure 1.

The upper portion of the wall 2 is provided with openings glazed with reenforced glass 24 whereby the operator can view the work being done and direct his equipment accordingly.

In order to obtain the' best results, it is desirable that the operator be able to direct the equipment from either side of the cleaning compartment. hence the provision of a control room on each side of the compartment. A convenient arrangement which eliminates much lost time is the grouping of two cleaning compartments beside each other, as shown in Figure l. whereby an operator can work from the left lhand side of the casting C, then work from the right hand side of the same, then, without moving from one control room to another, direct the operation of another gun 25 from the left hand side of the casting C' in compartment l and then direct the operation from the right hand side of casting C. While working on one casting, the car in the other compartment may be unloaded and reloaded and placed in position for further operations on its load.

In the wiring diagram of Figure 4, the motors for driving car 7, driving carriage 15, rotating barrel 19, elevating and lowering barrel 19 and rotating nozzle 20 are indicated at 9, 16, 19a, 19b, and 20a, respectively, and two circuits are shown leading 'from each of these motors to the respective control rooms 23, each circuit being provided with an independent controller X whereby the direction of operation of thev motor may be governed. All of the circuits in each room may be thrown in or out by. suitable switches 26.

In the right hand portion of Figure 1 and in Figure 2, we illustrate windows 27 located below the operators room and provided with reenforced glass and through which light may be directed from lamps 28 onto work in the cleaning compartment. It will be understood that these sections are taken at points offset vertically from window 24 and that each compartment is provided with the observation windows and with the lighting windows.

It is believed that the above description of the apparatus makes clear the operations and method followed in cleaning the castings. Every portion, recess, and crevice of a complicated casting may have directed against it a forcible stream of water (500 lbs. per square inch has been found highly satisfactory) and the stream of water so produced removes every vestige of'core sand together with rods and any other debris adhering to the casting. The casting-may be moved bodily to and fro in front of window 24 and relative to gun 18 and the gun may be moved up and down and forward and back in front of window 24 and into and out of all the recesses in the casting as they are successively placed in position, abreast of the gun. Also, a water stream may be directed in any direction from the end l form for a work element movable in reciprocal dioi vthe gun, the nozzle being rotatable vertically about a horizontal axis on the barrel 19 and the :nozzle 20 and barrel 19 being rotatable about the vertical axis of the barrel. 'The Windows of heavy reinforced glass enable the operator to direct the stream in any direction, even towards himself and thereis no escape'ior the discharged water except through drain 4 which leads tothe recovery system.

It is obvious that in a system comprising so many parts, many of the parts may be varied in detail, and some of the parts may even be eliminated, without departing from the broader aspects of our invention, and we contemplate the exclusive use of all modifications of our invention which come within the scope of our claims.

We claim:

l. In. apparatus of the class described, a work carrying element, means for moving said element bodily in a given plane along a given path, an operating medium gun, and means for moving said gun bodily, while functioning, parallel to said plane at an angle to said path and also means for moving said gun bodily at an angle to said plane.

2. ln apparatus oi the class described, a work carrying element, means for moving said element bodily in a given plane along a given path, `an operating medium gun, means for moving said gun bodily parallel to said plane at an angle to said path and also means for moving said gun bodily at an angle to said plane, and means for directing the discharge from said gun in various directions :from any given position of said gun.

3. ln apparatus of the class described, a work carrying element, means for moving said element bodily parallel to a given plane in a given path, an operating medium gun', means' for moving said gun parallelto said plane and at an angle to said path and also means for moving said gun bodily, While functioning, atan angle to said plane, and devices ior operating each of said means from a point remote from the element.

fi. ln apparatus of the class'described, a work carrying element, means for moving said element parallel to a given plane in a given path, an operating medium gun, means for moving said gun bodily parallel to said plane and at ank angle to said path and also means for moving said gun bodily at an angle to said plane, means for directing the discharge from said gun in Various directions irom any given position of said gun, and devices'for operating each of said means from a pointv remote from said element.A

5L in apparatus of the class described, a platform for a work element movable in reciprocal directions, a carriage movable in reciprocal directions at an angle to the movement of said platform, an operating medium gun mounted on said carriagel to move in reciprocal directions at an angle to the movement of said carriage, and a discharge nozzle for said gun rotatable about a horizontal axis on said gun.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a platdirection's, a carriage movable in reciprocal directions transversely to the movement of said platsaid runway for moving said car and for moving said nozzle on said gun barrel.

9. In apparatus of the class described, a work element support, a track extending transversely of said support, a carriage on said track, an opcrating'medium gun carried by said carriage, and including a vertically disposed barrel, means for raising and lowering said barrel on said carriage, a discharge nozzle rotatably mounted on the end of said barrel, and means for rotating said nozzle.

l0. In apparatus of the class described, a work element support, a track extending transversely of said support, a carriage on said track, an operating medium gun carried by said carriage, and including a vertically disposed rotatable barrel, means-for raising and lowering said barrel on said carriage, a discharge nozzle rotatably mounted on the end of said barrel, and selective remote control means for individually rotating said barrel and nozzle so as to direct discharge therefrom in various directions.

ll. In apparatus of the class described, a Work element support, a track extending transversely of said support, a carriage on said track, an operating medium gun carried by said carriage and including a vertically disposed barrel and a member rotatable therein, andA a discharge nozzle rotatably mounted on the outer end of said member to rotate in a direction dierent from the direction of rotation of said member.

l2. In apparatus of the class described, a work element support, a track extending transversely of said support, a carriage on said track, and an operating medium gun carried by said carriage and including a vertically disposed barrel and a member therein which is rotatable about a vertiators room at one side of said compartment, a

carrying device for said element movable longik tudinally of said compartment, an operating medium gun movably mounted in said compartment independently of said device, motors and mechanisms for selectively moving said gun about said device, controllers for said motors located in said room, and wiring connecting said controllers and'motors. I

14. In apparatus of the class described, a compartment for receiving a Work element,`an operators room at one side of said compartment, a carrying device for said element movable longitudinally of said compartment, a carriage movable in said compartment, an operating medium gun barrel mounted on said carriage to be moved therewith and thereon to diierent vertical and horizontal positions, a discharge nozzle rotatably mounted on said gun barrel, motors and mechanisms for selectively driving said device, carriage, gun and nozzle, controllers for said motors located in said room, and Wiring connecting said controllers and motors.

15. In apparatus of the class described, a work carrying element, means` for positioning said element at diierent points in a given path of movement, an operating medium gun, and means for positioning said gun at various points above or at` opposite sides of the work, and means for directing the discharge from said gun towards the Work irrespective of the position of the gun.

16. In apparatus of the class described, a. work element support, a track extending transversely of said support, a carriage on said track-and an operating medium gun carried by said carriage and including a barrel and a member therein which is rotatable about the axis of said barrel gun with its nozzle at various points above or at opposite sides of the work below the level of the work, and means for directing the discharge from said gun towards the work irrespective of the position of the gun.

CHARLES F. FREDE. KARL S. HOWARD. 

